


but life isn't hard to manage when you’ve nothing to lose

by marryingthebed



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Asexual Character, Cuddling, Gen, M/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Supersoldiers love Taylor Swift, ace steve
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-26
Updated: 2015-05-26
Packaged: 2018-04-01 07:20:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 2,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4010866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marryingthebed/pseuds/marryingthebed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A compilation of some of my favorite prompt fills that I've done for the Imagine Steve Rogers tumblr. Relationships/warning vary (ok tbh there's gonna be a lot of Stevebucky), tags will be added as each fill is uploaded.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Steve Rescues A Kindergarten Class

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Ernest Hemingway, bc that quote always reminds me of Steve and also I enjoy incorporating Hemingway into my queer-ass fanfic as much as possible.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt (Anonymous): Imagine Steve brings a whole kindergarten class back to the tower after their school bus gets destroyed In the middle of a mission

Robert from the cubicle over checks CNN on his phone about every five minutes, so that’s how she finds out.

“Jen,” he whispers, “weren’t you saying that Emma has a field trip today?”

“Yeah, to the aquarium,” she answers, still mostly focused on whatever it is she’s supposed to be alphabetizing. “Why?”

“Says there’s some ‘vigilante action,’ around there, and that there’s a school bus caught in the crossfire. It might not be hers, but…” 

An hour later Jennifer’s stuck in traffic, still frantically calling Emma’s friend Jamie (and, honestly, she’d raised her eyebrows when she’d first been given Jamie’s number, because, _really_? A five year old with a cell phone? But now she’s just grateful to have someone to call, because the school had been just about as helpful as the police, telling her to go to Avengers Tower, of all places.)

Finally someone picks up, and she hears static and then a tinny but cheerful “Hi Emma’s mom!”

Well, at least there isn’t any screaming or sobbing in the background. “Hi, Jamie,” she says, feeling the relief wash over her. “Can I talk to Emma?”

“Sure!” And then there’s the sound of Jamie hollering for Emma to come over, a bunch of kids giggling. 

“Hi, Mommy!” God, who knew being in a bus crash would leave Emma so  _hyper_. “Guess what?”

“Is everything okay sweetie? I read about your bus on the news and I got worried.”

“Everything’s great! At first it was super scary, because the bus was making all these noises, and it felt kinda like that one time we went on an airplane but scarier, and then guesswhatguesswhatguesswhat.”

“What?” 

“Captain America’s here! He saved me, Mommy!” And, oh, that explains the “vigilante action,” doesn’t it? One of Jennifer’s coworker’s friends had gotten helped out by Thor once, she remembers dimly. Something about an animal stuck in a tree…

“Do you wanna talk to him, Mommy? He’s so nice, our bus fell but he saved us, and then his friend Iron Man picked us up and took us to this fancy place, and he’s been drawing pictures for us! He even made the bus driver smile, and she’s  _so_  grumpy. ‘Member that time when—”

“Ok, Emma, I’m on my way to pick you up right now.”

Emma groans. “Can’t I just staaaaay? Pretty pretty please? Captain America’s so nice, he’s like Jamie’s big brother but better, he’s giving piggy back rides…”

Jennifer sighs, pinches the bridge of her nose. “Emma—”

“Wait, he’s right here! Captain, can you talk to my mommy for a minute? Tell her to let me stay?”

And then there’s another voice on the line. “Hello?”

Jennifer is not starstruck, okay? She just takes a few seconds to answer because…she needs to collect her thoughts. “Um, th-thank you, sir, for taking care of my little girl,” she says. 

“Just doing my job, ma’am,” he answers. God, even on the phone his voice sounds like apple pie and baseball games. 

In the background she hears Emma hiss “Oh my gosh, don’t call her ‘ma’am,’ she’s my mom!” 

America’s favorite hero spends the rest of the conversation referring to Jennifer as “Emma’s mom,” and helpfully supplying instructions on a shortcut to Avengers Tower, which, um,  _wow_. 

When Jennifer finally gets to the tower, she sees Emma and a few other children gathered around Captain Rogers in the lobby, patiently teaching him how to play Lemonade. 

He shakes Jennifer’s hand, blushes when she thanks him for his service. 

She invites him over for dinner. 


	2. Steve Comes Out As Ace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt (Anonymous): imagine steve telling bucky, who he has just entered into a relationship with, that's he asexual and him being worried that bucky is going to think he's weird or something.
> 
> (this chapter features some slight internalized acephobia)

Kissing Bucky feels good. 

Actually, kissing Bucky feels  _really_  good–-it’s the kind of pressure that Steve thinks he’s always craved. Bucky’s fingers digging into the small of Steve’s back, massaging, really, as their mouths move together, nice and slow. It reminds Steve of when the two of them are curled up in bed together, except maybe a bit wetter. 

Everything’s perfect, until Bucky’s hands move a little lower, cupping the swell of Steve’s ass in a way that’s almost possessive. That’s when Steve’s stomach twists, and though those blue books Rebecca reads tell him that this is a good thing, it certainly doesn’t feel like it. 

Steve pulls away, and for some reason Bucky, heavy-lidded and smiling, doesn’t look surprised. Maybe he’s had a lot of dames do this to him. 

“What’s wrong, Stevie? You wanna wait or something? I know it’s just been a week since we both got our heads out of our asses, but–”

“What if we didn’t,” Steve blurts out. 

Bucky frowns. “Didn’t wait?”

“D-didn’t do anything like that,” Steve mumbles, and they’re still close enough that he can feel Bucky’s entire body stiffen.

“What, kissing’s fine, but anything else is too queer for you?”

For a second, Steve wishes that Bucky was right, that it was something as simple as that. Aw jeez, Steve can’t handle being queer with Bucky, better break this all off. 

But it’s not like that. He can still remember Maggie Upton guiding his hand under her shirt, how he’d blushed, pulled away, made some excuse about how late it was.

“‘S’not you, Buck,” he says. “I-i like this. I like us.” To prove his point, he reaches down for Bucky’s hand, twines their fingers together. “It’s just…I don’t wanna do stuff like that. With anybody.”  


“Not with…So it’s not just me? Or the whole, y’know, we’re both guys thing?”  


“No, I–when you kissed me last Thursday, I was so happy I thought I’d burst. Everything we’ve been doing, the kissing, you holding me at night, well,” Steve sucks in a breath. “I want those things. I love you, Bucky, how could I not want them?”  


Bucky visibly relaxes, a small grin dancing around the corners of his mouth. “So you’re just telling me that I still gotta spend some time with my own hand in the shower every night? We can keep kissing and everything?”

“Yeah, I like kissing. ‘Specially the way you do it, how it’s so s-soft.” And Christ, Steve’s red as a beet, but mostly he’s fighting back a grin, relief rolling over him in waves. All his visions of Bucky being disgusted or disappointed, Bucky leaving, are slowly being drowned out by the feel of Bucky’s palm against his own. 

Bucky leans down, presses their lips together again. “Steve,” he whispers, only moving back an inch or so, so that they’re still almost nose-to-nose.

“Yeah, Buck?”

“I love you too.” 

 


	3. Steve Has 'One Of Those Nights'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt (from agent-coulson-to-you): Imagine one night the pipes break in Steve's suite, so when he goes to take a shower in the morning instead of the regular hot water he's hit by an icy cold blast and it sends him into shock. (Teammate of your choice) finds him hours later curled up naked on his bed covered by every blanket he owns trying not to have a panic attack.
> 
> (In this chapter Steve is extremely upset, having just had a flashback to being under the ice)

When Bucky gets back to the apartment (not  _home_ , not yet), he doesn’t call out for Steve, not like he wants to. It’s late, and Steve, if he knows what’s good for him, should be asleep. Not waiting up, not like he used to, back when Bucky would come home from bars drunk as a skunk and with lipstick stains on his collar. 

So Bucky lets himself into the darkened apartment as quietly as possible, takes his boots off at the doorway. He’s halfway to the kitchen, planning on getting himself a glass of water, when he hears the sobbing. 

The thing about Steve is, he’s never been much of a crier. Well, he has, but not the kind that makes a fuss about it. Always these little gasps, shoving his fist into his mouth to keep himself from getting any louder. 

So when Bucky hears a choked-off sob cut through the apartment, he doesn’t hesitate. Doesn’t bother to take off his gear, just heads to Steve’s bedroom, only hesitates for a moment at the closed door. 

A large, shaking bundle of blankets is in the center of Steve’s bed, and oh. It’s one of those nights.

This time there are at least seven blankets. It’s hard to count, really, because even though most everything Steve does tends to be Army-neat, this isn’t. He’s all tangled up in them, so much so that Bucky wonders how he can even breathe. 

A few seconds of peeling away blankets, and, there, Steve’s looking at him, face suspiciously shiny in the moonlight. The sight of Bucky seems to just make him cry harder. “B-uck, I-i-i-i wanted to be—” deep, heavy breath, “wanted it to be ov-er before you…” And then he’s just crying, the hitches in his breathing letting Bucky know a panic attack might be close. 

He’s a little surprised, honestly, when he finds Steve naked under the blankets, but doesn’t stop, just keeps moving them around, making space for himself. 

Steve stiffens at first, and Bucky imagines the uniform must feel strange, pressed against his skin, but a second later he’s pressing closer, tangling their legs together. Steve’s always been tactile, especially like this, so Bucky goes with it, brings his flesh arm up to cup the back of Steve’s neck. “Where are you, Stevie?” he asks, trying to be gentle. It’s still hard for him, sometimes. He’s still scared.

“C-old,” Steve says, his breathing already a little better.

“Just like old times then, huh? Me keeping your skinny ass warm in Brooklyn.” Bucky smiles at the memory. “But where are we right now?”

It takes Steve a minute, but that’s okay. Bucky waits. “Stark Tower. 2014.”

“You know what we’re gonna do tomorrow?”

“D-debriefing?”

Bucky laughs, but makes sure to keep it soft. “Well, first I’m gonna tell Fury to fuck off. I can debrief later. But we’re gonna go to that park, the one that Sam always walks his dog at? That’s your favorite, isn’t it?”

Steve nods.

“We’re gonna go to that park, and, hell, maybe we’ll invite some other people too—” Steve shakes his head. “Ok, just the two of us. And you’ll bring your sketchbook and make like the artsy nerd you are, and I’ll bring that new magazine Nat bought me, and about every five seconds some nervous little kid is gonna approach you and ask for a picture and then give you a hug and you’re gonna tear up every time.”

“Will not.”

“Shush, you big sap, I’m trying to talk. We’ll just be there, the two of us, and the sun’ll be out—checked that app on my phone just before I got back, said the sky’s gonna be crystal clear. You’ll be able to feel it on your skin, all nice and warm. Sound all right to you?”

“Yeah,” Steve says, clears his throat. “Yeah.” Their noses are touching, breaths mingling. 

Bucky hesitates. “Want me go change? The kevlar can’t feel that great—”

“Stay. Please.” Steve’s chewing his lip, not meeting Bucky’s eyes.

So Bucky stays.


	4. Steve Cuddles With Bucky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt (Anonymous): Imagine how Steve would cuddle

Bucky expected Steve to be gentle, all careful hands and soft touches. The two of them waking up gently curved around each other, just hands and foreheads touching, maybe sharing the same breath.

However, within a week of Bucky moving his stuff into Steve’s room, he has to admit it: Steve Rogers is a violent cuddler. 

He mashes his face into Bucky’s neck like he’s trying to break skin or something, nose sharp against Bucky’s pulse point. In sleep his fingers always find that same place right above Bucky’s hip bone and just dig in, to the point where Bucky’s afraid he’ll find bruises the next morning. The first time this happens, he flinches, and Steve wakes up immediately, mumbles a sleepy “You okay?”

“Yeah,” Bucky says, because, really, this should make sense. Steve has never been one for soft or careful–-not on the streets of Brooklyn and certainly not here, in this too-exact world they call the future. 

It’s a couple nights later that he realizes why he doesn’t ask Steve to stop. Steve’s got his left leg wrapped around Bucky’s, a position that has to be as uncomfortable for him as it is for Bucky. His hand’s reached up and tugging at the hair on the nape of Bucky’s neck, and when his fingers slacken a little, probably with sleep, Bucky whines, has to keep himself from pushing back into the touch. 

And, huh. Bucky likes it. Likes it enough that the next day, when Steve, bright red, confesses that “I haven’t shared a bed with anyone for a while so the whole–the whole touching you thing? If you don’t like it, I-i can stop,” Bucky just rolls his eyes, pulls Steve close and whispers the truth in his ear.

“I like it, you big lug. Reminds me that we’re both here.”


	5. Steve Faces A Tank (Several Tanks)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt (Anonymous): IIIIMAGINE bucky and pre-serum!steve getting into a huge argument because why the hell does steve have to get involved in these fights anyway... and then a weirdly similar argument with post-serum!steve because dammit steve you can't just face a freakin tank!!

“For Christ’s sake, Steve–”

“Bucky–”

“ _Stevie_ ,” Bucky says, and Steve hushes right up. “I mean, Jimmy Sherman’s one thing. But him and his whole gang? Y’gotta be kidding me…”

“They were–”

“Do I look like I give a shit about what they were doing?” Bucky sighs, drops his gaze to the floor. “Why’d you have to be so noble, huh kid?”  


Steve shrugs. “Just trying to keep up with a friend, I guess.”  


*

“Rogers,” Gabe shouts, “Barnes is looking for you!” An unnecessary warning, as Steve can hear Bucky’s cursing even from here. 

“For fuck’s sake, Steve–” Bucky storms into the tent, dragging half a pound of mud with him. 

“Bucky–” Steve says, but it’s useless. 

“ _Stevie_. This isn’t a joke anymore, this is a goddamn war, you can’t just face a fucking tank because you’re all serumed up now.”  


“It was–”

Bucky squeezes his eyes shut, shakes his head. “Do I look like I give a rat’s ass? Sure, you’re Captain America, but do you really gotta be this noble?”

“Just trying to keep up with a friend, I guess.” 

* 

Halfway through the mission, Bucky’d disabled his comm, so Steve already knows he’s in trouble.

“ _охуеть_ , Steve–”

“Bucky–”

“No, you’re gonna listen this time.” Bucky’s still in his gear, but at least he’s taken off the mask. Steve hates when he leaves the mask on. “A whole fucking camp, with zero backup. You really wanna die again that bad?”

“Natasha was coming–”

“Natasha had her hands full!” Bucky snaps before he realizes the tone he’s using, softens a little. “I can’t lose you, okay? No matter how damn noble you insist on being–”

Steve smiles. “Just trying to keep up with a friend.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm like "these fills feature various pairings!!!" when in reality I am stevebucky trash and like 80% of this is probably gonna be stevebucky.


	6. Steve Listens To Taylor Swift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt (from mysticalmagicalmasterpiece): Imagine Steve discovering Taylor Swift and becoming obsessed with her to the point where everyone else wants to scream and they all look to Bucky for help buT HE'S JUST AS OBSESSED

When Sam volunteered to help Captain America, he’d imagined a lot of heroics. Saving the world, destroying evil, that sort of thing.

He had not imagined this.

Steve is currently in the living room, singing at the top of his lungs. Specifically, singing _Taylor Swift_  at the top of his lungs. And, god, couldn’t the serum have made him any less tone deaf?

“THE PLAYERS GONNA HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE, AND THE FAKERS GONNA FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE, BUT I’M JUST GONNA–” Steve is wailing, when he’s suddenly cut off.

“ROGERS!” Bucky yells from the other room, sounding pissed and remarkably Winter-Soldier-like. Sam grins. Maybe if he can’t get through to Steve, Steve’s sort-of boyfriend can. 

“Yeah Buck?”  


“You’re a fucking embarrassment. It’s,” and here Bucky adopts the same exact half-shouting, totally off-key voice, “HEARTBREAKERS GONNA BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK, AND THE FAKERS GONNA–”

Sam wants a refund. Can you get a refund on two super soldiers? It doesn’t matter–Sam  _needs_ a refund.

(Of course, that’s ignoring the fact that just two weeks later he finds himself in Target with three copies of  _1989_ in his cart, humming “New Romantics” under his breath.)

 

**Author's Note:**

> Steve Rogers-based prompts are answered on a daily basis by me and other (cooler) writers [here](http://www.imaginesteverogerss.tumblr.com) , and my personal tumblr is [bimarvel](http://www.bimarvel.tumblr.com)


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